MediaBytes

YAHOO is acquiring Right Media, which operates an online advertising exchange. Yahoo had previously purchased a 20% stake in the company. SONY plans to launch The Minisode Network. The online network will stream condensed versions of old television shows from the Sony library. “Charlie’s Angels” and “T.J. Hooker” will be among the selection. CBS will Continue Reading →

FOX is planning a process to insert new commercials into a broadcast that has been recorded to a DVR. They are looking to test the process with TiVo. NIELSEN will begin tracking HDTV homes. The first challenge is defining an “HDTV Home.” MYSPACE will license its brand for use in China. Local entrepreneurs will use Continue Reading →

JOOST is gathering an impressive list of advertisers: Microsoft, Intel, HP, Unilever, Sony, United Airlines and more. Spots will include traditional-style ads and on-screen contextual ads. The FCC is asking Congress to legislate the sale of television on a per-channel basis. The request is included in a report on violence on TV. APPLE‘s iTunes Music Continue Reading →

The FCC is setting rules for auctioning the 700 MHZ spectrum, formerly used for Analog TV. Analog will stop using the spectrum in February 2009. YAHOO has launched a searchable database of music lyrics. The database includes the official versions of lyrics to over 400,000 songs, supplied by music publishers. Yahoo and the rights-holders will Continue Reading →

MINDSHARE released a new study, which reveals that “non-program minutes” on broadcast networks did not increase last year. The average held flat, at 15 minutes per hour. THE INTERPUBLIC GROUP will subscribe to TiVo‘s StopWatch service. StopWatch provides second-by-second viewing data, collected from samples of TiVo subscribers. IPG is the second subscriber. YAHOO, HUFFINGTON POST, Continue Reading →

The INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING BUREAU is calling for an audit of comScore and Nielsen/NetRatings. Many companies disagree with the numbers reported by the two tracking companies. Out-dated methods may be to blame. eMARKETER is predicting that overall online ad growth will fall to 18.9% this year. Last year, online advertising grew 30.8%. RIM will begin selling Continue Reading →

The NEW YORK TIMES, GANNETT, and TRIBUNE CO. all announced first-quarter results. The Times profits fell 26%. Gannett profits were down 10.5%. Tribune showed no profit — losing $15.6 Million. GOOGLE acquired Marratech’s video conferencing software. The software provides document-sharing and communication via video, text, and VoIP. It will compete with Cisco’s WebEx. COMCAST urged Continue Reading →

MYSPACE will announce MySpace News. The site will aggregate news feeds from several sites using RSS technology. Users can rank headlines and stories, determining the placement of articles. AT&T has added 15,000 U-verse subscribers already this year. It had 3,000 subscribers at the close of 2006. The IPTV service is available in 200,000 homes, and Continue Reading →

NETRATINGS will drop “page views” as a ranking metric, and switch to “time spent” on a web page. COMSCORE will also decrease the impact of page views, and focus on repeat visitors. The tracking firms are trying to measure engagement more precisely. GOOGLE is preparing a Powerpoint competitor. It has acquired TONIC SYSTEMS for technology Continue Reading →

TIME WARNER may reduce its cable holdings. Under such a plan, the company would focus on being a content provider, with a growing focus on web businesses. The cable pullback will be discussed at an upcoming board meeting. GOOGLE plans a new copyright-filtering service, dubbed Claim Your Content. The service, which will allow automatic removal Continue Reading →